Healthcare workers to picket Kaiser Downey amid contract negotiations
Photo courtesy UNAC/UHCP
DOWNEY — Hundreds of healthcare professionals are expected to rally outside Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center this Friday, Aug. 1, as part of a coordinated series of informational pickets across Southern California organized by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP).
The Downey protest is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the medical center, located at 9333 Imperial Hwy. Organizers anticipate more than 300 participants — including nurses, caregivers, and community supporters — all donning blue T-shirts and chanting “Together We Rise” to demand safer staffing, improved patient care, and greater respect on the job.
The demonstrations come as UNAC/UHCP continues contract negotiations with Kaiser Permanente. The current agreement covering more than 35,000 healthcare professionals across California and Hawaii is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2025.
“This fight is about protecting care and respecting those who provide it,” said Charmaine S. Morales, RN, president of UNAC/UHCP. “Our patients deserve safe staffing, our communities deserve strong care systems, and our professionals deserve real partnership and accountability.”
Kaiser Permanente released a statement in response to the planned picketing.
“It’s important for our members and patients to know that this is not a strike. Our medical facilities will remain open and operate normally,” the statement read. “Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest unionized workforces in the United States. We have a long history of working productively with labor. Today, we work with more than 40 unions representing over 80% of our employees. Kaiser Permanente offers great jobs with competitive wages, industry-leading benefits, and meaningful career development. With an employee turnover rate of just 8%, we’re proud to be an employer of choice in health care.”
We’re negotiating a new, national contract with the Alliance of Health Care Unions, made up of 23 local unions which represent 61,000 professionals in our historic Labor Management Partnership. Both parties are committed to interest-based bargaining focused on shared goals and collaboration.”
“As we look toward the future, we know the next few years will be a time of unprecedented change for health care. We’re confident that, together with our Alliance union partners, we’ll address key issues and reach an agreement that supports the financial security of our employees and affordability for our members, and reinforces Kaiser Permanente as a best place to work and receive care.”
The union says nearly 20,000 members and allies have signed a petition calling for better working conditions, which was delivered to Kaiser management during recent bargaining sessions. The campaign arrives at a time when many healthcare workers are still grappling with pandemic-era burnout and ongoing staffing shortages, according to the union.
Similar pickets are planned Friday at Kaiser facilities in San Diego, Riverside, and West Los Angeles, forming a daylong "rolling wave" of action. Labor organizations, community groups, and local elected officials are expected to join the demonstrations in solidarity.
The event is part of what labor advocates have dubbed a “hot union summer,” with a wave of worker-led activism and collective bargaining efforts across multiple industries.